Buzzed

Shhhh. Just listen. Really listen, whether you are walking on the peninsula, working in your garden or just standing outside. You'll hear it.

The sound is the faint hum of the bees as they frantically go from flower to bush to start storing honey.

We're not unlike the bees. We've noticed the change in the light. The sunsets are earlier, the mornings darker. The gardeners in us are picking tomatoes from bushes that are yielding far more than could have been imagined when they were just seedlings in May. Now they stand as tall as I do, arms (both of ours) heavy with ripe fruit.

This weekend, I went for my final trip to Conn's Blueberry Farm to get a last batch of berries for the freezer. I took my daughter, who is not a fan of bees, because I couldn't think of a more perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon in August.

The temperature was just around 72 degrees. The sky was a light blue. And the trees were still full of berries, albeit pushing past their prime.

The bees were there too, although they seemed more preoccupied with drinking the sweetness of the overripe blueberries than with us. But if you listened, some of the blueberry bushes/trees positively hummed. We let those be. They had their jobs; we had ours.

Six quarts later, we headed home to start up the slow cooker for a new recipe, Blueberry Butter. These were the perfect berries, just a little on the soft side. You puree the berries, add them to the slow cooker along with some sugar and lemon and, eight hours later, you have a thick Blueberry Butter. Eat now, or process in jars in a hot water bath for canning to enjoy later.

Later in the day, I headed to Mason Farms in Girard/Lake City, where pick-your-own raspberries are $5.50 a quart. I knew the bees were more intense in the raspberry bushes, so I let my daughter have a pass on this one.

I like picking in the early evening because the bees, while present, seem to be winding down their day. They want the flowers; I want the berries. If you listen, and look, you both can have what you want without a sting. It's a picking dance born of patience and experience.

Sunday morning, we had blueberry muffins with Blueberry Butter and raspberries for breakfast. A sweet way to start a bee-utiful week.